


My Lovely Man

by Lunarium



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Budding Love, M/M, Magic, Teamwork, ToT: Chocolate Box, ToT: Monster Mash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8438683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: Lalli on loneliness.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IdleLeaves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdleLeaves/gifts).



> To IdleLeaves, who has been an excellent friend. :) Thank you so very much for all the lovely chats! 
> 
> Many thanks to my beta!

Lalli sat with his knees tucked close to his chest as the jealousy boiled in the pit of his stomach. Reynir, Tuuri, and Emil sat and talked amongst each other and laughed, the stupid kitten exchanged between them like their private token of friendship. 

And they talked. Although Reynir and Emil didn’t share a language. They talked. Tuuri acted as translator for them, and she could speak with them with ease. Somewhere on the other side of the tank Sigrun and Mikkel conversed about things only two very grown up child-adults would talk about. 

And Lalli was here, alone. 

Emil was probably purposely avoiding him after what happened earlier that morning. Lalli couldn’t blame him. Friends didn’t throw soup at one another’s faces. And Reynir…Lalli wasn’t exactly welcoming and friendly to him either. It wasn’t entirely his fault, not when the annoying Icelandic mage just barged into his world as though they had known each other for years, and all while Lalli was in the midst of a deep sleep. He wasn’t ready to form friendships after such a state (and after such a nasty fright!) 

Lalli sighed. He supposed it was all his fault he was here, alone. No one to talk with. 

It wasn’t for lack of trying. 

He simply couldn’t _bear_ trying. The last time he had earnestly tried, it hurt too much. 

It was silly to allow that boy’s voice to haunt him to this day, but Lalli couldn’t let it go. He had been terribly alone and afraid, separated from his parents and missing his grandmother. The only connection he had was a phone number of the military base where his grandmother was stationed. He attempted to call her one afternoon when he managed to find a station with a phone. His voice shook as he wept for her to answer him, but it was not his grandmother who answered. Whoever picked up the phone did not speak Finnish at all. 

Their voice was very warm and kind; the person must have been young like Lalli’s, but they spoke excitedly, as if eager for a caller. And Lalli could not answer back. He wanted to. He hung unto the voice for want of something comforting to warm him that cold, lonely afternoon, but unable to respond, feeling his tongue tied and the words choked out of him, he slammed the phone back. Sliding down beside the wall, he wept in shame. He never attempted to call his grandmother back. 

Lalli drew out of his reverie as a round of laughter arose nearby. Whatever amused the three friends, he wasn’t part of the joke. Tuuri would ask him to join just once, then not press the matter, although he wished she would. Emil was definitely purposely avoiding him. And Reynir…Reynir wasn’t the sort to dwell over rejection, Lalli decided, and that perhaps stung the most. He wanted Reynir to _beg_ for his attention. 

Reynir, whose first appearance in his dreams was literally a dream in and of itself, the romantic stuff Lalli used to scoff at before. It was silly to count himself having fallen in love with one at such a distance, but whatever it was, Lalli had been so taken by the handsome mage, so caught up as to abandon all vigilance for a moment, and it nearly cost his life. 

A feat he secretly blamed Reynir for. And because of _that_ , Lalli was now truly alone. 

Checking the time, Lalli sighed. He may as well begin his scouting duties while no one else paid him any any attention.

*

The beast stood a few yards before him, nestled pathetically and alone. Lalli offered it a small grim smile, feeling a strange sympathy for the creature. Killing it would be the easiest thing on this expedition. The creature sat making odd tiny _coo_ sounds, breathing heavily, its large black eyes watery and sad.

Lalli snuck behind it, his dagger at the ready, when the beast spun around, having spotted him. Its jaws snapped wide open and long tendrils flew out, lunging straight for Lalli. 

The runo faltered at the tip of his tongue, costing him the second needed to defend himself. The strike came razor-sharp against his arm, and he screamed and gasped out pain as white light sparked before his eyes. By the time he found his bearing again, the beast made for another move. 

In that moment, a whirl of red light surrounded him. It was not his magic’s light, and in the second it took for him to realize who it was, the beast was blasted back. 

“Idiot, he’s mine!” Lalli bellowed at Reynir, though he was half-alarmed at seeing the Icelander capable of such magic after everything Tuuri and Onni had told him. 

Wide-eyed, Reynir turned to him and yelled something out, and something snapped inside Lalli. 

“Shut up! I can’t understand you!” Lalli yelled and ran after the beast. 

“ _Nei!_ ” 

Arms wrapped around Lalli’s middle, preventing him from going any further, and Reynir’s mouth shot off with more of that indiscernible rambling. 

“Stop it! I don’t understand what you’re saying, get it through your thick skull!” 

Reynir screamed, pointing above, and despite himself Lalli turned in the direction he motioned. His heart froze. Hordes of beasts, tiny like this one but with many legs, like overgrown spiders, were making their way down the trees towards them. 

This time, Lalli was prepared. The runo rippled out of him with strange ease, as though standing in the middle of a giant Icelandic rune was keeping him calm enough to perform the incantation with precision. Reynir stood right behind him, hands on his shoulder. Lalli wanted to push him back, the sensation being too much, but his heart was pounding and his eyes were glued to the spider-trolls. 

“Just don’t lose the protective rune, idiot,” Lalli warned before slipping into another round of chants. 

As if Reynir could understand him, he squeezed his shoulder. When the spiders drew nearer, he attempted to shield Lalli with his own body just as the light from the rune exploded around them so that Lalli’s eyes teared. 

But no matter how close any beast got to them, Reynir did not back away, and did not lose grip of his rune, and even with an injured arm threatening to break his concentration, Lalli managed to cast out every beast. 

The process drained him of his strength, and when Reynir’s rune at last dimmed out of existence, Lalli collapsed on the ground. Last thing he saw before slipping into sleep was Reynir gingerly collecting him into his arms and heading back towards the tank.

*

Lalli asked himself why he was standing here waiting for Reynir. One incident should not have been enough to bring hope for companionship— _Why do I even need it?_ —but the sudden appearance of Reynir amidst the fog over the black dream-water, making his way towards his Haven, gave Lalli pause from turning around.

Suddenly finding himself full of mixed feelings, Lalli stood still. 

“Why are you here?” he demanded angrily, hating himself already. He was secretly glad Reynir did come, a confirmation that at least someone didn’t abandon him. One part of his brain told him to hold on to that thought, to not let his own stupid pride or whatever other issues chase another person from his life away.

And so, instead of flaring up at Reynir, Lalli simply huffed and turned on his heel, storming back to his raft. 

“Lalli! I know Onni said it wasn’t safe to cross the water, but I had to see you!” 

Lalli made sure Reynir was following him like some kind of loyal dog before he asked his next question. 

“Why?” 

Stunned by the question, Reynir shrugged his shoulders. “Why not? You were hurt, weren’t you? Mikkel had to patch you up when I got you back inside.” 

“Did you follow me out there?” 

Reynir hesitated, and Lalli caught the brief blush that reddened his cheeks. 

“Yes,” Reynir eventually confessed. “I felt danger—a lot of danger, those spider things, actually—and worried you will be out there by yourself.” 

“I had it under control.” 

“No, you didn’t! They could have killed you.” 

“Would anyone have cared?” 

“Only the entire crew! Listen, I just didn’t think you should go fighting those beasts alone,” Reynir said. 

Lalli stopped dead in his tracks, spinning around to glare at the obtuse Icelander. “I am always alone!” 

Smiling that damn foolish smile of his, Reynir’s head cocked to one side. “Can’t be! You have your cousins, and your parents! Tuuri told me you were always with your grandmother.” 

“That’s different.” He hoped the finality in his tone would drop the conversation. 

He sat on the edge of his raft, and Reynir followed, settling himself on the patch of grass closest to the raft. Lalli tried to will the dream to widen the gap between grass and raft, but his injuries were too numerous. 

“Hey, let me see that.” 

He brought Lalli’s arm over his folded legs. 

Lalli chewed on his lower lip. “How’d you manage to get good with magic in a short amount of time?” 

“I didn’t, that’s the thing,” Reynir said. “I guess when I get scared or something, it comes out of me. Let me use it while I still can. Mikkel isn’t exactly the best at this—not his fault, really, you weren’t given all the proper supplies.” 

His hands roamed over Lalli’s arm, working gently, a soft, warm glow about an inch away from Lalli’s skin. It sent shivers—not of a cold, uncomfortable sort that often monsters brought about, but something far more pleasurable, even intimate. 

“There’s no need to be lonely,” Reynir said when he was done. He set Lalli’s arm on his lap, giving it a little pat. Lalli ran his other hand down it, feeling not a single bruise or sign of injury. “You keep pushing people away.” 

Instead of arguing, Lalli said, “You think so?” 

Reynir nodded. “We’re here for you. Even if we can’t understand each other, just being there is nice. I like being around the others even when they’re speaking a language I don’t know. Emil told us he was really heartbroken over what you did this morning. He’s not mad—okay, he kinda is. But he doesn’t _hate_ you. No one does. Tuuri told us you have a habit of doing this. And I’m used to you being a jerk to me.” 

He stuck out a playful tongue at Lalli’s glare. He would chase Reynir out of his Haven this moment, but that seemed quite ungrateful to do for one who had just mended his injuries. 

“You know, the others will make an effort only if you do too,” Reynir continued, studying Lalli carefully. “I know it seems crazy, but…well, I just don’t want you to be like that kid.” 

Lalli blinked once, shifting his head to one side in confusion. Reynir went on. 

“When I was younger, one day the phone in my house rang. I wasn’t allowed to answer calls, but it kept ringing and I was alone and wanted to answer it! So I did, and there was another child on the other side. He sounded timid and scared, lonely…I didn’t know what he was saying, but I kept talking to him hoping he would feel comforted by just hearing another human voice, you know? He never talked back to me. He hung up the phone, and that was the last of that conversation. I wonder how he’s doing right now.” 

Reynir must not have noticed how suddenly still and frozen Lalli became. 

_That was you?_ Lalli would have spluttered if he could find his voice. 

“I hope he’s doing well, don’t you?” Reynir looked up again, smiling warmly as he stroked Lalli’s hand with uttermost affection. “Hope he isn’t lonely any more.” 

“Yeah,” Lalli finally managed.

*

By the time they rested back, sharing the raft, something in Reynir’s eyes told Lalli that he knew the young boy has been Lalli. It was difficult not to give a smile, even if a small one, in return.

When Lalli awoke, he was lying a couple feet away from Reynir, who was still in deep sleep. He inched closer, studying the shape of his brow, the chin, his nose, the curl of his eyelashes. He counted the freckles on his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose, allowing himself to throw down the walls he had built after the incident on the dream-water. It was still too early for this to go anywhere, but his heart leapt at the sight of him, hungering to memorize every inch of his beauty. When they would next wake no word could be understood between them, but they had dreams to fall back on. In a few hours he will work towards making up with Emil, sit beside Tuuri during the crew’s downtime and have her translate and she did with Reynir and Emil. He may even pet the damn kitten. It will be weird, but he will try. And most of all he could not wait for when he and Reynir could speak freely again in their Havens. 

_My lovely man_ , he thought before leaning in, a ghostly brush of a kiss on Reynir’s lips, before slipping back into his bed under the bunk.


End file.
